Sunday, September 14, 2014

Red 1-2-3 by John Katzenbach

The three woman don't know each other.  They are different ages and don't share an occupation or interests.  Karen is a middle-aged doctor who performs stand-up comedy for release.  Sarah is a school teacher who has suffered an unimaginable loss.  Jordan is a teenager attending a private school.

But they have two things in common.  They all have red hair.  They are also all targets of a stranger who tells them he is coming to kill them. He calls himself The Big Bad Wolf and has selected each of them to play the part of Red Riding Hood.

When the letters arrive informing them of their certain doom, they don't want to believe it.  Why would a stranger want to kill them?  Why them out of all the women in the world?  The letters contain personal information about each of them that convinces them that someone has been trailing them for months, documenting their routines and the people they have relationships with.  None has any doubt that this is serious but the police aren't interested in such an insubstantial threat.  It's obvious that if they are to survive they will have to save themselves.

John Katzenbach is a master of horror.  He spins a tale of three ordinary women and how each reacts to a very unordinary event in their lives.  He delves into their personalities and lets the reader catch a glimpse of what it would be like to be stalked by someone who is determined to kill you.  The novel draws the reader in and moves along quickly, giving the reader reasons to cheer for the women to defeat the killer.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

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